Build an Alexa Skill in 6 Steps

Step 6: Get Your Skill Certified and Published

We are almost done! The last step is to add the metadata that your skill will use in the Alexa app. This page will walk you through the remaining steps, and give you some tips on how to avoid the common mistakes developers make that result in a failed certification.

Select the Launch link from the top navigation menu.

Fill out the form fields per the guidance on the screen. Hover over the question mark icons for details regarding each respective field. Fields marked with an Asterisk, are required!

Take the time to get these right so that your skill will pass certification!

Write your skill descriptions.

Spend some time coming up with an enticing, succinct description. This is one of the few places you have an opportunity to attract new users, so make the most of it! These descriptions show up in the list of skills available in the Alexa app and the skills store.

For your example phrases, come up with the three most exciting ways a user can talk to your skill.

Make sure that each of your example phrases are a perfect match with one of your Sample Utterances. Incorrect example phrases are one of the most common reasons that skills fail certification, so we have provided a short list of things to consider as you write your example phrases:

Example phrases **must** be based on sample utterances specified in your Intent Schema.

Your first example phrase **must** include a wake word and your invocation name.

Example phrases **must** provide a contextual response.

Choose three example phrases that are likely to be the most common ways that users will attempt to interact with your skill. Make sure that each of them works well, and provides an excellent user experience.

Create your skill's icons. You need two sizes of your icon: 108x108px and 512x512px. When you upload an image, it will be automatically fit to the required dimensions.

Make sure you have the rights to the icons you create. Please don't violate any trademarks or copyrights.

If you don't have software to make icons, try one of these free options:

Provide a comprehensive list of keywords for users that are searching for new skills. This is an optional field, and searching the Alexa app or the skill store will also find the words in your Skill Name and descriptions, so you don't need to overdo it. That being said, if there are words that you want users to find your skill with, you should include them here. Separate the keywords with commas.

Privacy Policy URL. This is an optional field, and should not be required for this fact skill sample. You can leave it blank.

Terms of Use URL. This is also optional, and you can leave it blank.

When you're ready, click Save and Continue at the bottom of the screen to move onto Privacy & Compliance

Does this skill allow users to make purchases or spend real money? For this fact skill, the answer is no. For future skills, make sure you answer this appropriately.

Does this Alexa skill collect users' personal information? Again, for this fact skill, the answer is no. If you do collect information about a user, such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, and so forth, ensure that you answer Yes to this question.

Answering "yes" to this question will also require you to provide a link to your Privacy Policy on the previous page.

Is your skill directed to children under the age of 13? Because you customized this skill with data you provided, it is possible that you created a skill that targets children under the age of 13. For this fact skill, the answer is no because it doesn't target a specific age group.

Factors to consider in determining if this skill is directed to children under 13 include:

Export Compliance. Be certain that you agree with all of the conditions. If you do, make sure to check this box, as Amazon requires this permission to distribute your skill around the globe.

Provide testing instructions. Testing instructions give you an opportunity to explain your skill, and any special or possibly confusing features, to the certification team. A value is required in this box.

Since you are using our Sample, make sure to add a sentence to your Testing Instructions referencing the Sample you used. For example:

This was built using the Fact Sample.

This will let the testing team understand what you're providing them, and should decrease the testing time required.

Congratulations!

You have successfully submitted your skill for publication. You can test it on your Amazon Echo or any device with Alexa. If you don’t have a device with Alexa, you can test it in the Echo Simulator by signing in with your Amazon account at Echosim.io.